Parade of Champions 2013-14
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 18, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A total of 99 schools won one or more of the 127 team Finals championships awarded by the Michigan High School Athletic Association during the 2013-14 school year – with six programs winning the first MHSAA team titles in any sport for their respective schools.
The Detroit Consortium boys basketball, Jonesville boys bowling, Croswell-Lexington girls bowling, Bark River-Harris girls golf, Farmington ice hockey and Ann Arbor Skyline boys soccer teams all brought home the first MHSAA team championships in their schools’ histories.
For the second straight school year, a total of 33 teams won their first MHSAA titles. A total of 40 champions were repeat winners from 2012-13 – and 25 of those won for at least the third straight season. The Birmingham Brother Rice boys lacrosse team has the longest title streak of 10 seasons, while the Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball team has won eight straight titles for the second-longest streak overall and longest among girls programs.
Marquette claimed the most championships, six, winning in Division 1 boys skiing, Upper Peninsula Division 1 boys cross country and girls cross country, Upper Peninsula boys swimming and diving and girls swimming and diving, and Upper Peninsula Division 1 girls track and field. Five schools won three titles apiece: Brother Rice, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, Birmingham Seaholm, Detroit Country Day and East Grand Rapids.
Sixteen of the MHSAA's 28 championship tournaments are unified, involving teams from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, while separate competition to determine titlists in both Peninsulas is conducted in remaining sports.
For a sport-by-sport listing of MHSAA champions for 2013-14 - Click Here (PDF)
PHOTO: The Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball team celebrates at Kellogg Arena after winning its eighth straight Class D championship in November.
7 Elected to Representative Council
November 9, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Elections were completed recently to fill positions on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s legislative body, its Representative Council, with six current members receiving re-election and a seventh selected to complete the term of a retiring administrator.
Kingsford athletic director Al Unger will continue to represent Class A and B schools in the Upper Peninsula, and Gobles athletic director Chris Miller will continue to represent Class C and D schools from the southwestern section of the Lower Peninsula. Adrian Madison athletic director Kristen Isom was re-elected to represent the Class C and D schools from the southeastern section, while Bear Lake athletic director Karen Leinaar was re-elected to continue as one of two at-large statewide representatives.
Alvin Ward, administrator of athletics for the Detroit Public School League, will continue to represent the Detroit Public Schools, and St. Ignace superintendent Don Gustafson was re-elected as one of two junior high/middle school representatives. In addition, Portage Northern athletic director Chris Riker was elected to complete the second of a two-year term representing Class A and B schools in the southwestern section. He will take the place of Fred Smith, who recently retired as athletic director at Benton Harbor.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee. The Council meets three times annually, and five members of the Council convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools.
Additional elections took place to select representatives to the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee. Escanaba athletic director Nick Nolde was elected to represent Class A and B schools, and Ishpeming Westwood athletic director Jon Beckman was elected to represent Class C schools. Rapid River athletic director Rick Pepin was elected to represent Class D schools.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.